Federal authorities raided a manufacturing plant in Woodfin, NC on Tuesday, leading to the arrests of 57 people on immigration violation charges. But who set off this raid, which is said to be the largest ever in Western North Carolina?

In a press release Tuesday morning, Asheville City Councilman and congressional candidate Carl Mumpower took some credit for the action at Mills, saying an employee there contacted him several weeks ago and “we developed a connection with ICE in Charlotte on Mills Manufacturing. I am grateful for their follow-through and will continue to press this issue.”

“It is wrong that this company has so flagrantly ignored immigration law and the importance of employing American workers,” he said.

This leads me to wonder why it was left up to Carl Mumpower to take action. Did the whistleblower not trust Rep. Heath Shuler to do the right thing, or did he or she just know that Shuler wouldn’t do anything to help enforce the rule of law in his district. If Carl Mumpower is elected in November, residents of North Carolina’s 11th District can rest assured that he will be representing them, not Nancy Pelosi.